Sunday, October 01, 2006

Liminality


In the liminal space of Indian Summer, the last flowers of the season take in the sun before Fall shadows steal them away into night.

Echinacea purpurea has been used in herbal medicine for centuries. But modern researchers say its medicinal qualities are highly overrated. So how did it come to be a folk remedy if it really didn't work? Maybe it, too, lives in a liminal space.

C and I saw a film today, Blindsided, about a young teenager whose eyesight is gradually stolen by a rare genetic disease. The situation throws his family into chaos, desperation, during which they must each come to grips with his disability and all the changes it brings to their lives. But in this frightening liminal space, they eventually find the courage, the strength to re-shape their lives, and end up forming a company that develops a new way to teach music to those who are sight-impaired.

Maybe the Stones are right: You can't always get what you want, but if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need...

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